Thursday, March 07, 2013

The Excellent Boss!

I have an interesting routine most mornings. Most times, I get up and spend a bit of time praying and crocheting. Then I get ready for work.

I'm not the type of chick that just wakes up and be out of the house 30 minutes later. That's not going to happen. I need a full 1.5 to 2 hours to be ready to leave for work.

No, I'm not doing my hair or putting on makeup. I'm not that type of gal. I have to wake up, pray, read, watch the news, make my lunch, read some more, feed and water Oscar-Tyrone, blog, write... all kinds of stuff.

So I have settled into a schedule... of sorts.

I need to be at work around 10. So around 8:30, I like to have my clothes on and hair comb, and I like to be piddling around the kitchen around that time.

Around that time, Joyce Meyer comes on. I like watching her in the mornings. Nothing like a good sermonette to get me thinking.

Anyway, she said something interesting. She was talking about letting people know that you appreciate them versus always finding fault with people. Let's face it, one is much easier than the other.

And she asked an interesting question. She asked when was the last time you told your boss that you appreciated them, and that they did a good job?

I believe I was juicing at the time. I, along with the audience she was preaching too, got real quiet.

What kind of question was that? Didn't she know that Management was the absolute devil, hell bent on making an employee's life absolutely miserable?

"She talking crazy," I murmured. I threw another small apple into the juicer. "I might have to turn this off."

But she went on to make her case. (She had to, since everybody was looking at her like she was an odd bird that had just flew into the room). She said that they have to deal with much that we don't have to deal with. And we should tell them that we appreciate the job they are doing.

A bit far-fetched. But it made a little sense to me.

A little.

Enough for me to think about it long after the program ended and I headed off to work.

So... I swooped into my boss' office.

"Hey!"

She looked at me like I was crazy. Which is usually the case .

"I just want you to know I was watching Joyce Meyer this morning, and she asked when was the last time you told your boss you appreciate them and how good of a job they were doing. I thought I would come in here and just tell you that."

She said nothing. Just stared at me.

"I want you to know that you are excellent! And you do an excellent job!"

She stared for a moment. "Uh, ok."

And with that, I was gone.

That was back in late October. I decided then that I would stay on that for the rest of the year.

Everytime she came to my desk or I ran up on her, she had the pleasure of hearing me holler "You are EXCELLENT! You do such a good job! You sure do!"

I'm not sure this was all that pleasurable for her, as everyone absolutely HATES management. HATES with a passion.

"Thank you for your help! You do such an excellent job!"

"Whatever, man," she has mumbled a number of times... followed by the hard eyeroll.

Her boss... sigh. That dude is special. I'm sure he is excellent. But he is special, first and foremost.

There are people around me who I make sure that they think that I'm just a bit... touched. Just so they won't bother and harrass me. You know, make sure that they think I just a bit off and unpredictable. It saves me a lot of trouble, I tell you.

Yeah, he's one of those types.

And I notice that when Cowgirl Cre needs supervisory assistance, she calls my supervisor. And my supervisor comes over and helps her, and all is well.

Well I don't like this. That is MY boss. MINE.

She was helping Cowgirl Cre one day, and when she finished I had to tell her "Look, don't help her no more. You not her boss. You my boss. She needs to call her own boss. Get that joker to help her."

"I don't care," Cowgirl Cre said with a note of arrogance. "I call her and she comes right over and she knows what to do."

"That's because she's excellent! Call your own boss!"

"I don't care, blah blah blah..." Cowgirl Cre continued.

My boss backed out of our cubicle slowly... but not before kicking the hard eyeroll.

Earlier this week, she was helping the Cowgirl Cre with some word game. I think it was Words with Friends. And it had me seething.

"Look here, man... don't be helping her with spell words. She need to go ask her own boss to help her spell. Cut that out!"

They both looked at me and then went at her smart phone.

HUMPH.

I really do think my boss is excellent. Close to a couple of years ago, we had a management regime shake-up. The evil empire was shook up, and I ended up with a good boss. My old boss is our director, and that's alright. She doesn't make my life miserable and that is cool.

I asked my boss the other day, "Do you lay up in bed at night and try to come up with ways to mess with people and hurt people?"

"No," she said.

Well that makes you excellent in my book!"

Because we had so much of that going on. And it is always odd that management likes to mess with the unstable folks, putting all our lives in danger. It is bad to have that on your mind, but shoot... I will never understand that.

But I understand the gist of Joyce Meyer's message that morning. After a few months of doing that, I understand how far it goes to squeeze out the negative. VERY far. And it takes power away from the negative.

And that is a good thing.

I was in the other building adjoining my own on my job, and I saw some folks in a lab. I wanted to congratulate them on getting some extra workers, as a couple of people had left or retired. Well, they were in there going off hard about what was going on in the building. And you know me, I don't deal much with all the negativity anymore. Well they got into going hard on management.

"My boss is excellent. She actually has a clue. She actually thinks about the problems. And if she don't know the answer, she go get it. And she asks questions. She don't mind learning. And she ain't trying to come up with ways to destroy people!"

"Yeah, you right," they said. "She is good."

Yes. I broke up the negative monotony. Then I got on out of the lab and went back to my own.

From time to time, the Cowgirl Cre will remind me, just when the boss is walking out of the cubicle area... "You forgot to tell her. Remember you gotta tell her."

"Oh yeah," I said. "Hey man!!" I holler. "You are excellent!"

Say it with me. "I am excellent."

"I am excellent," she mumbles... not before kicking the hard eyeroll.

Not all that enthusiastic, she's not. But oh well. But that's alright.

I'm going to stay on it! Yes I am.

She is excellent.

She likes really sad songs. I mean... sad, sad, sad. "I like the songs that make you drink the brown liquor," she said.

She has had me listen to songs she like in the past. They have me like "Dang, man. That's pretty sad right there."

She likes the crying-in your drink in the back booth of the club type of songs. And when I hear one, I let her know. And of course she likes it.

2 comments:

UHMmm.... My boss is excellent ..... just not at being a boss .... being "special" yesss !!! LOL!! I can't even fake the funk with that one!! I can work on praying him on outta here through promotion or whatever I dont care but I need to have an excellent boss. Then I will not have to borrow yours!!